Raphael Varane says Plum skin Witch It brought confidence and discipline. Manchester United The side that wants to take the next step in its development by beating Barcelona.
The 2018 World Cup winner joined the Old Trafford giants alongside Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer of 2021, but the campaign that followed was one to be forgotten for all club-bound.
United fired Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and floundered under guard boss Ralf Rangnick while in sixth place in the Premier League – a miserable situation that Ten Hag quickly reversed.
The former Ajax boss has fostered the culture and quality at Old Trafford which means the club continues to fight on all four fronts as it prepares to welcome Barca. Europa League Qualified play-offs on Thursday.
“I think we’ve grown a lot in the last month,” Varane said. “We are playing with more confidence and tomorrow the atmosphere will be electrified, so we have to manage our emotions, stay calm and believe.
“I think we’ve improved a lot as a team already and the next step is to beat teams like Barcelona. It’s a great, great challenge and a great opportunity for us.”
When asked about the difference between this season and last season, Varane said, “I think it’s self-confidence first and discipline second.
“Tactically, I think we’re following the rules exactly and we know exactly how we want to play, how we want to run the game.
This is great for us, a great challenge and a great opportunity.
Raphael Varane
“Quality is in the squad and I think we’ve already improved a lot with a little more experience, competition and a winning mentality.
Maybe that’s the difference between last season and this season.”
United’s confidence was evident at Camp Nou last Thursday, where Ten Hag’s men impressed in a 2-2 draw that could easily be a victory.
“I think the first game against Barcelona was a very good game, top level – there were two attacking teams that wanted to press high on the pitch,” said Varane, former Real Madrid defender, of the debut game.
“The level was very good and it was a good result for us. Obviously we could have scored more goals in the first half but overall we played with character and personality on the pitch, which was very important.
“I think we know exactly how we want to play for the second game. We want to play with passion, discipline and faith on the pitch.
I think we have a good team and we are ready for this challenge.”